Wednesday, July 4, 2012

This was a cake I developed for a wedding 6 years ago. I did a post on it at the time, but I removed it because, not only were the information links broken, and the recipe contained palm oil products, but I had written it in haste and it needed to be re-done. So, here its is again, re-written and sans palm oil!I must confess that, even though I've always loved to cook, I have never thought of myself as a sweet baker, really (yeast baking, yes, however). I never imagined myself making a wedding cake! But, I have made a few since becoming a vegan, for family and for paying customers, and I'll wager that, though they might not look as slick and gorgeous as even the average supermarket bakery cake, they taste a heck of a lot better! In any case, I hope I have provided enough information to help the novice-- if not, I'm sure you'll let me know! And I hope that the fact that I can manage this in my little kitchen, with my rather low self-confidence in this area of baking, will be reassuring.It makes a great birthday cake, BTW. My DIL made it once for the principal of the Denman Island Elementary School where she teaches. Said principal is a vegan and one of of our Vegan Dinner Group friends, and she remembers that birthday cake fondly to this day. DIL, being the very creative person that she is, added rose water to the cake and decorated it with rose petals!

BRYANNA’S
TRIPLE LEMON VEGAN WEDDING CAKE FOR THE HOME BAKER

(about 50
servings)

A light and delectable wedding cake made with
lemon “genoise” cake, lemon curd filling and a lemon-scented “buttercream”
frosting--all vegan. Since I’m not a skilled cake decorator, I use fresh
flowers.

For a 3-tiered cake to feed about 50 people, I made 3 x the recipe below. I made square cake layers, 4”, 6” and 8”, 2 layers of each. (Each tier was made of two cake layers, with lemon curd [recipe below] sandwiched between them. Since I only had one set of square pans, I made 1 1/2 times the recipe at a time and made the three graduating sizes cake layers, then I repeated that procedure once again. Ingredient lists for x 1 1/2 and x 3 are below the recipe.)

Prepare the pans by greasing with “Cake release”/Pan Coating (see below for recipe), and lining with baking parchment cut to fit the bottoms of the pans.

Mix the dry ingredients together with a whisk in a large mixing bowl. Add the "Buttah", water, and the juice and beat with an electric mixer for a minute. Add the remaining ingredients and beat one more minute.(NOTE: the batter is runnier than the average cake batter-- don't worry!) Divide the batter equally between the cake pans.

Bake 25 minutes, or until cakes test done. (See resources for baking times for wedding cake layers above, but use a cake tester until it comes out clean for best results.)

Cool on racks for 10 minutes, then loosen cakes and remove from pans to finish cooling, otherwise it might crack and fall apart from being too warm. To remove from pans, first, run a thin knife to loosen the edge of the cake layer from the pan. Then, place a wire mesh rack over the top of it and with a hand on each side of the baking pan and rack, quickly invert. Gently shake or tap the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon handle to help remove the cake layer. Carefully peel off the parchment liner and turn cake layer right-side-up to cool on a wire cake rack.

TO ASSEMBLE THE CAKE:

Have your layers cooled and trimmed. Have cardboard cake separators ready, bought or homemade. For this relatively small tiered cake, I use plastic drinking straws cut to fit each double-layer tier (instead of dowels), to support the layers so that they don’t sink under the weight of the layers above (see photo just below). Sandwich each of two matching layers together with a generous layer of the Lemon Curd. (Make sure to carefully wipe off any lemon curd that oozes out between the layers.) Assemble the cake as instructed below.

Inserting straws

The straws in place and cut level with cake

Spread a thin layer of the Vegan Lemon Buttercream Frosting evenly over the top and side surfaces of all of the doubled cake layers. Allow them to dry (uncovered) in the refrigerator for about 45 minutes. That is the “crumb coat”.

Place the second tier layers where you want them on top of the bottom layer. Do the same with the third tier, inserting 2 long drinking straws in through the top, smallest tier all the way down through the 2nd and 1st tiers, to hold it all together and keep it from possibly slipping. Cut the any bit of the straws peeking out level with the cake, using scissors .

Frost the assembled cake again with the final, thicker layer of frosting and decorate as desired.

Use a hand immersion blender or electric mixer (a stand mixer if you are making a large amount) and mix until fluffy. Use a pastry brush to apply the coating on the inside of your pan--no need to flour after applying. Store the mix in a covered container in the refrigerator.

BRYANNA’S VEGAN LEMON BUTTERCREAM FROSTING

This is a creamy vegan “buttercream” with a lower percentage of fat than most “buttercreams”. This recipe makes a large amount for a big cake—you can cut in half or even by 4 for smaller cakes. It is plenty for the small 3-tiered cake pictured above. Chill until it’s time to ice the cake.

In the large bowl of an electric mixer, cream the "Buttah" until smooth. Add 4 c. of the sugar, the water and lemon juice, the zest, lemon extract and vanilla. Beat until creamy. It may look curdled—don’t worry! Add the remaining sugar, a little at a time, as you beat it, until it holds it shape well and you can see “trails” in it from the beaters. Refrigerate, covered, until it’s time to ice the cake.

In a blender, whiz together the juice, water, sugar, cornstarch and salt. Pour into a heavy saucepan with the zest. Whisk over medium heat, stirring constantly, until it comes to a full boil. Boil 1 minute, not stirring. (OR microwave in a heat-proof bowl 2 minutes, whisk, then 2 minutes more.) It should be thickened and turning clear. Remove from heat. Add soymilk or alternate and "Buttah". Blend well with the whisk. Cool the curd, then refrigerate in a covered container. It thickens as it cools.

Well with having my sons vegan wedding next June , l'm looking desperately for a wedding cake recipe and the expertise ! thank you for this and the detailed hints any more hints would be well appreciated. l just cannot find a vegan baker here in Turkey !

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